NewsNational

Actions

NY prison tailor Joyce Mitchell pleads guilty to helping inmates escape

Posted at 11:50 AM, Jul 28, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-28 13:36:29-04

Joyce Mitchell, who was accused of helping two prisoners drill and saw their way out of an upstate New York prison, plead guilty to promoting prison contraband and criminal facilitation Tuesday.

She faces up to seven years in prison, CNN reports.

Mitchell, 51, a prison tailor at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, was accused of hiding tools in hamburger meat for inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat. She backed out of being their getaway driver.

The prisoners escaped on June 6, setting off an manhunt that lasted weeks. Matt was shot dead by authorities and Sweat was captured.

As part of the plea deal, Mitchell must aid authorities in their investigation of the escape, WKBW reports. Charges of conspiracy to kill her husband were dropped.